


The Melody Of Joy

by SpangleBangle



Series: Thominho Week 2015 [4]
Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Day 4 - Soulmates AU, English Thomas, First Meetings, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Non-Deaf Use Of Sign Language, Platonic Soulmates, Polyamory-Friendly, Referenced Non-Graphic Prior Minho/Alby, Thominho Week, Thominho Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 13:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5050822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpangleBangle/pseuds/SpangleBangle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My fill for Day 4 (Soulmate AU) of Thominho Week 2015 :) A platonic soulmates au where the person(s) you connect with the most and who will be steadfast by your side through thick and thin is/are the the one(s) you can laugh with.  </p>
<p>Minho simply looked at him for a moment. Then all of a sudden, he felt a surging in his chest and stomach, a kind of rising warmth and breathlessness. Oh fuck no don’t throw up don’t throw up…! But instead of puke, there came a garbled sound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Melody Of Joy

I went on a bit of a ramble about my feelings on soulmate AUs and why I made this fill platonic. [(x)](http://spanglebangle.tumblr.com/post/130675352343/im-gonna-need-to-preface-this-soulmate-fill-with)

* * *

“What if I never find them, Alby?” Minho asked, half-muffled into his pillow. “What if I’m gonna be alone forever?”

Alby sighed and rolled over to face Minho. “Okay, dude. Firstly, where the fuck did this come from, I’m tryna sleep. And second, you’re not gonna be alone forever, okay? Everyone goes through this shit. I went through this shit for years. Some people go through it for decades. But everyone has a soulmate, or mates.”

“D’you think some people just… don’t?”

Alby rested a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “No. I think everyone has at least one person out there destined to richen their life. It takes some looking, but they’re out there. You just gotta hang in there, and try and meet as many people as you can.”

“I don’t want my life to just be about searching for this person, y’know?”

“And that’s the way to do it,” Alby said encouragingly, squeezing his shoulder. “If you’re always tryin’ to find them, you’ll drive them away. Just live your life, and you’ll find them on the way.”

Minho sighed and scrunched the pillow under his hands. “What’s it like?”

Alby rolled onto his back and smiled up at the ceiling, any tension and grumpiness evaporated. “Laughing? It feels like… bubbles under your skin, and a catch in your lungs, and breathlessness, and like invisible joy. And seeing the other person laughing too, seeing the surprise in their eyes, and hear their voice lifted like that… for the first time. It’s… it’s amazing. Better than sex.”

Minho stuck his tongue out at Alby, who grinned and signed ‘laugh’ with one hand. “Not that I don’t enjoy your visits, Minho. But I can’t really describe it. It’s like a whole body experience – like tryin’ to tell someone who’s never kissed anyone what it’s like. You can tell ‘em what to do physically, what to do with their mouth and hands. But you can’t tell them how it’ll _feel_ , y’know?”

“Yeah,” Minho muttered, watching Alby sadly. “Y’know, I thought we might be soulmates, for a while.”

“I wondered too,” Alby smiled at him, rolling back on his side. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not hugely important in my life. It doesn’t mean you’re not my friend and I don’t love you, or I don’t like seein’ you naked. Just means I can’t laugh with you. It’s really not a big deal, Minho.”

“Hard not to feel like a big deal when everything you see is about finding your soulmate.”

“Look, Minho. The whole thing is that it _enriches_ your life, doesn’t define it. Yeah, it’s somethin’ really special I have with Newt. We get and support each other in ways no one else can. But it’s just part of our lives now. Our other friends and relationships aint suddenly meaningless, we don’t ‘complete’ each other or whatever. We argue, we fight. We haven’t ridden off into the sunset or whatever.”

Minho smiled and signed ‘laugh’ to him.

“I’m sure you have a soulmate out there, Minho. And even if it takes a while to find them, that doesn’t mean you’re broken or unworthy or unloveable. It just means your paths haven’t converged in that way yet.”

“Thanks, Alby.”

“S’alright. Now get to sleep, ya dumb shank. Work in the morning.”

-x-

“Wow, fuck that guy in particular,” Thomas’ voice muttered over the headset as his character died a grisly death in slow motion. Minho smiled and typed ‘lol’ into the chat box.

“That’ll teach ya to camp, Thomas,” Minho replied.

“I’m the sniper, what d’you want me to do,” Thomas said, vaguely outraged. “That’s the whole objective!”

“Alright, calm down. I’ll come cover you if you want.”

“Please.”

They didn’t speak for a while apart from game-talk, progressing through the mission at a steady pace.

“What time is it over there, anyway?” Minho asked after he heard Thomas stifle a yawn.

“Maybe two, I dunno.”

“Thomas, get the fuck to bed. Right now.”

“I’d much rather finish the mission if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t wanna be responsible for you falling asleep at work later, dumbass,” Minho frowned.

There was a pause.

“I got fired yesterday, actually. So, no work tomorrow. Can we just rescue the hostages now already?” Thomas sighed.

“Whoah, dude,” Minho said, hands moving on their own to follow and cover Thomas’ avatar with a smoke grenade. “What happened? I thought you said it was going well?”

“It was. Up until they realised they were losing money and needed to fire some people. And hey, last in first out, right.” Thomas said, voice dark and bitter.

“Oh, man, I’m so sorry,” Minho said, and typed a :( into the chat. “I’m sure you’ll get a new job soon though, you’re all kindsa qualified. No sweat.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Thomas said, sounding a bit less bleak. A little smiley face popped up in the chat. “Just not looking forward to the job-seeking thing again. Shit’s exhausting.”

“Feel ya there,” Minho agreed, grimacing as his character got shot full of holes and respawned. “I mean, my job’s super boring, but it pays and it’s steady and I don’t really feel up to the whole song and dance of resumes and interviews and all that right now.”

“Resu— oh, CVs. Right. You and your stupid Americanisms,” Thomas said, typing ‘lol’ into the chat.

Minho replied back in kind. “You and your stupid Britishisms. Can I call you lord crumpet or what.”

“Uh, excuse you, it’s _Lord Crumpington Esquire_ , I’ll have you know.”

Abruptly, Minho’s throat made a weird choking noise, like he’d swallowed a biro cap and had a chest infection all at once.

“Dude, you okay?”

Minho cleared his throat. “Think so. Weird. Must’ve inhaled something. Anyway, you’re about to get spotted, might wanna back off there hotshot.”

“Oh, shit,” Thomas muttered, sprinting his character away. “How’re we gonna get in there without being spotted?”

“Probably an air vent. Or sewers. Either way we’re gonna be getting’ some high-res ass shots in enclosed spaces.”

There was a cough of static at the other end of the call, like Thomas was coughing up a hairball.

“Wow, must be contagious whatever happened to me,” Minho smiled, pausing the game while Thomas made hacking noises. “Ouch. Drink some water, dude.”

“Will do,” Thomas croaked. “Ugh. Weird. Anyway, still excited for Comic Con?”

“You bet,” Minho grinned as they resumed their game. “Still can’t believe you’re flying out for it. And I’m gonna be able to see your dumb face in person.”

“Same,” Thomas replied, typing another smiley into the chat. “I’m half convinced you’re like, catfishing me or whatever. Need some proof I’m not just gaming with a stranger on the internet.”

Minho rolled his eyes, sending off a ‘lol’ for good measure. “We’ve done video chats, idiot.”

“Still, proof is in the – uh. Pudding?”

“You’re calling me pudding now? Sorry Thomas, I’m a ‘cupcake’ only kinda guy.”

“Right, sorry cupcake.”

Minho could practically see Thomas’ smile through the miles between them.

-x-

Minho slouched against the wall in the Arrivals lounge, a little nervous but mostly excited to meet his long-term internet friend for the first time. He just hoped things would be the same in person and not weird and awkward.

He watched the announcement board, trying to imagine what it would be like to meet Thomas at last. Maybe they could go out for coffee after this, just hang out before the Con. Or maybe he’d be super jetlagged and want to just crash on Minho’s couch. That was cool too. And they had a day or so after the Con ended to hang out. There’d be plenty of time, he thought with a nod. And they could go to loads of panels and go through the dealer’s hall, and all sorts. Yeah. He just hoped Thomas liked him as much in person as he did online.

_Calm down_ , he told himself firmly and tugged on his jacket self-consciously. _It’s all gonna be fine._

He checked the board again and jumped when he saw the Heathrow flight had landed and was going through security. He tugged his jacket again and watched the doors, counting the minutes until Thomas would walk through.

Eventually, the Heathrow flight passengers started filing through the Arrivals area, looking for friends, family or tourguide reps. Minho stood up straighter and got out his dorky sign with Thomas’ gamertag written on it, holding it up above the people in front of him. After waiting about five minutes, he spotted his friend. Tall and lanky with a real goofy grin, he headed over once he saw Minho’s sign. He broke into a loping jog and Minho came forward to meet him with a grin practically breaking his jaw.

“Thomas! Hey, what’s – whoah.” Minho skidded to a stop as Thomas tripped over a bag and went into a spectacular dive, landing face-first on the polished lino floor. “Whoah, are you okay?”

Thomas groaned and got to his feet again, face red in embarrassment. “Uh, hey. Nice to meet you.”

Minho simply looked at him for a moment. Then all of a sudden, he felt a surging in his chest and stomach, a kind of rising warmth and breathlessness. _Oh fuck no don’t throw up don’t throw up…!_ But instead of puke, there came a garbled sound – half strangled noise, half mishmashed words and gasping. It would have frightened him if he hadn’t felt so happy, like he was buzzing from toes to scalp, filled with restless energy.

Thomas gaped at him, then broke out into a kind of mirror of whatever noise Minho was making, high pitched and silly-sounding. They stared at each other, helpless as their stomachs and chests convulsed and this godawful noise spilled from their throats and echoed around them in the vaguely scandalised silence that had fallen.

Minho felt tears come to eyes and didn’t know why until Thomas, still croaking and wheezing, made the BSL sign for ‘laugh’.

“Oh my god,” Minho gasped between breaths, reaching out and pulling Thomas to him. Thomas clung tightly as they giggled together helplessly, caught up in a swirl of affection and emotions they couldn’t even name, feeling overwhelmingly giddy and breathless.

Minho was vaguely aware of the people around them turning away uncomfortably – terribly rude to discover your soulmate in public, oh dear – but didn’t care, simply enjoying the feeling of Thomas’ arms around him and their bodies shaking with each gust of merry laughter.


End file.
